In-store card activation

ABSTRACT

A user having an account with a payment provider receives an unregistered payment card that is associated with the payment provider, and that includes a magnetic strip encoded with a number unique to the card and a machine readable code such as a QR/barcode embossed thereon. The user may then open an application on the user&#39;s mobile device to capture the number associated with the card by, for example, scanning the QR/barcode, capturing an image of the number, speaking the number into the device, or manually entering the number into the user&#39;s device. The user may also authenticate with the payment provider by entering login credentials. The user may then confirm a request to link the number of the card with the user&#39;s payment provider account, which activates and links the card to the user account so that the user can immediately use the card for purchases.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is a Continuation of U.S. Utility patentapplication Ser. No. 16/392,144 filed Apr. 23, 2019, which is aContinuation of U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 15/724,754,filed Oct. 4, 2017, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,269,019, which in turn isContinuation of U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 15/186,198,filed Jun. 17, 2016, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,785,947, issued on Oct. 10,2017, which in turn is a Continuation of U.S. Utility patent applicationSer. No. 15/142,552, filed Apr. 29, 2016, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,679,294,issued on Jun. 13, 2017, which in turn is a Continuation of U.S. Utilitypatent application Ser. No. 13/930,481, filed Jun. 28, 2013, now U.S.Pat. No. 9,330,384, issued on May 3, 2016, which claims priority to U.S.Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/696,593, filed Sep. 4, 2012.The present application is related to U.S. Utility patent applicationSer. No. 15/621,756, filed on Jun. 13, 2017, now abandoned, thedisclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein in theirentirety.

BACKGROUND Technical Field

The present application generally relates to payment cards, and inparticular, to activating payment cards.

Related Art

Currently, users of payment services, such as PayPal, Inc. of San Jose,Calif., can obtain a payment card that enables the user to make apurchase at a physical point of sale (POS) by swiping the payment cardthrough a card reader. Such cards typically have a magnetic strip thatallows a POS reader to read information contained in the strip, such asa card or account number. This information is communicated to the cardprovider or other service provider for processing the payment.

Typically, a user is sent a card through the mail, with an embossedaccount number as well as a magnetic strip encoded with the accountnumber. Because the card is mailed, it may take the user several days toreceive the card, resulting in a delay for the user to use the card forpayments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing steps a user performs in receiving andactivating a payment card according to one embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing steps a payment provider performs inactivating a payment card according to one embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a networked system configured foractivating a payment card at a merchant store according to oneembodiment; and

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a computer system suitable for implementingone or more devices described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In one embodiment, a user having an account with a payment provider,such as PayPal, Inc. of San Jose, Calif., is able to go to a store ormerchant location and pick an unregistered payment card associated withthe payment provider. The card may have a magnetic strip encoded with anumber unique to the card and a machine readable code, such as aQR/barcode, embossed thereon. The card may or may not have acorresponding number embossed or printed on the card. Once a card isselected, the user may open an application on the user's mobile smartphone or other device to scan or otherwise capture the number associatedwith the card. For example, the user may scan the QR/barcode, take apicture of the number, speak the number into the device, or evenmanually enter the number into the user's device. The user, eitherbefore or after the number capture, also authenticates with the paymentprovider, such as by entering login credentials, which may include apassword/PIN and a user identifier if needed. The user may then confirma request to associate or link the scanned card with the user's paymentprovider account. Once done, the card is now activated and linked to theuser account so that the user can immediately use the card forpurchases, which is different from gift cards in stores that require theuser to activate during checkout or payment, with no association to apayment account.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart 100 showing a process a user performs inactivating a payment card at a store or other physical location. At step102, the selects a physical payment card. The payment card can be madeavailable at a store, merchant location, kiosk, or other physicallocation. For example, a store may have a stack of cards at an entranceof the store. Note that because the cards are not activated or availablefor use, the cards do not need to be secured or monitored. The cards mayhave a magnetic strip, NFC chip, or other means to enable cardinformation to be read for conducting a payment transaction with thestore or others through a payment provider, such as PayPal, Inc. of SanJose, Calif. The cards may also have one or more of a QR code, barcode,machine readable image or code, or embossed or printed numbers. TheQR/barcodes contain a unique number associated with the particular card.The embossed or printed numbers represent a unique card number, whichmay be the same or different than the ones contained in the QR/barcode.

Once the user selects a card, which can be any available payment card atthe store, the user scans or otherwise captures information from thecard at step 104. For example, the user may scan the QR/barcode with auser device, such as a smart phone. The user may also take a picture ofa printed or embossed number or enter the number manually by keyboard orvoice. In other embodiments, the user may enter a URL with a codeassociated with the card.

At step 106, the user accesses the user's account with the paymentprovider. Note that steps 104 and 106 may be performed in differentorders or combined. Accessing the account may include the user enteringa PIN or password, along with a user identifier if needed. In oneembodiment, the user opens a mobile application for the payment providerand enters in the user PIN/password. The user identifier may already beavailable through the mobile device, but if not, the user may also beasked to enter a user name, email address, phone number, or other useridentifier. This allows the payment provider to access the user'saccount. If the user has not set a mobile PIN, the user may be requestedto create one or a mobile PIN may be created by the payment provider,such as through the user password.

After the payment provider has located and accessed the user's account,at step 108, the user may see a message asking the user to confirmactivating the just-scanned card. The message may be through a pushnotification, through an email, or other text message delivered to theuser device used to communicate the card information at step 104. Themessage may also be communicated by voice, such as through a voicemessage or call to the user device. Confirmation may be communicatedback to the service provider in any number of suitable ways, such as,but not limited to selecting a button (e.g., confirm, yes, activate,etc.) or checking a box from the user device display, sending a textmessage, or through voice, such as a call to the payment provider.

Once confirmed, the card can now be used to make a purchase at the storeor other stores. For example, at step 110, the user may use the card bytaking desired items from the store to a checkout area, having the itemstotaled, and scanning the card, either before, during, or after theitems are totaled. The user may swipe the card through a card reader atthe point of sale or checkout area and enter a PIN or password on thePOS device. The card information is communicated to the paymentprovider, who then processes the payment through the user's paymentprovider account. As discussed below, the card may have associatedincentives or other funding instruments associated with it, such thatany applicable incentives may be automatically applied to the purchase.In other embodiments, the user may be notified that there are incentivesavailable for use with the purchase and asked which one(s) the userwishes to use for this transaction. Non-used incentives may be keptpending for future payment transactions, based on eligibility, such asexpiration date and other incentive conditions.

As a result, a payment provider user is able to quickly and easilyactivate a payment card in a store and make a purchase immediately. Thiseliminates the need for the user to wait for a card in the mail or gothrough an activation process at checkout.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart 200 showing a process a payment provider makes inactivating a card from a store according to one embodiment. At step 202,card information is received from a user device at a store or otherlocation. The information may be received through a scan of aQR/barcode, a picture of a card number, or entered (text or voice)numbers of the card. The received information contains, at a minimum, acard identifier that uniquely identifies the particular card to thepayment provider. Other card information may include data thatassociates the card with the payment provider, data that associates astore, merchant, or location with the card, or security codes toidentify real versus counterfeit cards. These may help the paymentprovider identify valid and authentic cards.

In other embodiments, card information may include incentive informationused to incentivize the user to use/activate the card. The incentiveinformation may be a credit to the user's payment provider account,credit applied to a purchase at the store of activation, or any otherdesirable incentive. For example, specific store coupons, generalrebates/credits, manufacturer coupons, etc. may be part of the cardinformation, so that the various incentives may be downloaded or appliedto the user's account upon card activation.

After card information is received, a determination is made, at step204, whether the card is valid or authentic. The payment provider maysearch its database to determine whether the received card identifiermatches with a card actually issued by the payment provider. An invalidcard may a counterfeit card that does not have the proper security code,one that does not have a match with the payment provider (which may bedue to an improper card identification capture), or a card that hasalready been activated and associated with another user's account. Inanother example, an invalid card may be the result of a locationmismatch. The card identifier may be associated with a card for Store Aat 123 Main Street, Los Angeles, Calif., but the identifier may betransmitted from a user device in New York or somewhere outside the U.S.In that case, the payment system may determine the card cannot bevalidated at this time.

Depending on the reason for invalidity, the payment provider may takeappropriate action, such as informing the user to select another cardand return the current card to the store or clerk or request the user tocapture the card identification again. If the payment provider does notreceive card information for a valid card determination, the activationprocess may be terminated.

At step 206, the payment provider receives user information, which mayinclude a PIN or password and a user identifier, such as an emailaddress, user name, or phone number, if needed. The user identifier maynot be needed if a suitable identifier is communicated automatically(e.g., without user entry) through the user device, such as a phonenumber or device ID. The user information may be received through amobile app on the user device.

The user information is used to determine, at step 208, whether a validaccount exists corresponding to the user information. If an accountassociated with the user identifier is found, but the password/PIN isincorrect, the user may be asked to reenter and send user information,such as the password/PIN. If an account was found, but the account isinactive, such as an expired funding source, the user may be asked toupdate information, such as an expiration date, to reopen or activatethe account at step 210. If no account is found, the user may be askedto open or create an account at step 210 by entering or providingrequested information, such as a user name, password/PIN, funding sourceinformation, etc. Note that the sequence of steps 204 and 206-210 may beinterchanged, such that the user first accesses or opens an account andthen scans or captures payment card information.

Once the scanned card is found valid and the user has a valid accountwith the payment provider, the payment provider may, optionally, requestwhether the user wishes to activate or link the card to the user'saccount. This may be communicated electronically to the user device inthe form of a text message or display having a button, field, or linkthe user can select to indicate confirmation. Voice notification mayalso be suitable.

If the user confirms, the card is activated at step 216. Activation mayinclude storing card information with other information in the user'saccount. As such, when the user scans the card for a payment, the cardinformation, along with authentication information such as apassword/PIN, can be communicated to the payment provider. The paymentprovider may then process a payment on behalf of the user. Note that oneor more steps described herein may be omitted, combined, or performed ina different sequence as desired.

In one embodiment, the card identifier number is the same as the cardnumber used by merchants and the payment provider for making a payment,i.e., the card identifier contained in the QR code/barcode is the sameas what is contained in the magnetic strip, NFC chip, orembossed/printed card number. In another embodiment, the card identifieris different than the actual card number. Thus, the card identifier maybe used simply to initially identify and activate the card, while thecard number (such as contained in a magnetic strip, NFC chip, orembossed/printed on the card) is used to identify the user account inpayment transactions.

By allowing a payment provider to supply locations with unactivatedpayment cards that can be easily activated by user's through theirmobile device, payment providers may save on costs of mailing activatedcards to user, save time on processing individual cards, and reach morecurrent and potential account holders to use the payment card forpurchases.

In other embodiments, the card may be activated at the POS, such as byscanning the card and using the card at the POS. In this case, themerchant may get credit for selling the card, with the merchant able tocharge the user a fee (such as $2) for “purchasing” the card. Thepayment provider may provide the user with a credit in the amount of thefee (e.g., $2) such that the user is made whole, but the merchant stillreceives a bonus for selling the card at the merchant location.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a networked system 300 configured foractivating a payment card, such as described above, in accordance withan embodiment of the invention. System 300 includes a user device 310and a payment provider server 370 in communication over a network 360.Payment provider server 370 may be maintained by a payment provider,such as PayPal, Inc. of San Jose, Calif. Although a payment providerdevice is shown, the server may be managed or controlled any suitableservice provider that manages activation of a payment or funding card. Auser 305 utilizes user device 310 to view account information andperform transactions using payment provider server 370, includingactivating a payment card in-store and using the card for payments. Notethat transaction, as used herein, refers to any suitable actionperformed using the user device, including payments, transfer ofinformation, display of information, etc. Although only one server isshown, a plurality of servers may be utilized. Exemplary servers mayinclude, for example, stand-alone and enterprise-class servers operatinga server OS such as a MICROSOFT® OS, a UNIX® OS, a LINUX® OS, or othersuitable server-based OS. One or more servers may be operated and/ormaintained by the same or different entities.

User device 310 and payment provider server 370 may each include one ormore processors, memories, and other appropriate components forexecuting instructions such as program code and/or data stored on one ormore computer readable mediums to implement the various applications,data, and steps described herein. For example, such instructions may bestored in one or more computer readable media such as memories or datastorage devices internal and/or external to various components of system300, and/or accessible over network 360.

Network 360 may be implemented as a single network or a combination ofmultiple networks. For example, in various embodiments, network 360 mayinclude the Internet or one or more intranets, landline networks,wireless networks, and/or other appropriate types of networks.

User device 310 may be implemented using any appropriate hardware andsoftware configured for wired and/or wireless communication over network360. For example, in one embodiment, the user device may be implementedas a personal computer (PC), a smart phone, personal digital assistant(PDA), laptop computer, and/or other types of computing devices capableof transmitting and/or receiving data, such as an iPad™ from Apple™.

User device 310 may include one or more browser applications 315 whichmay be used, for example, to provide a convenient interface to permituser 305 to browse information available over network 360. For example,in one embodiment, browser application 315 may be implemented as a webbrowser or mobile browser configured to view information available overthe Internet, such as account information from the payment provider.User device 310 may also include one or more toolbar applications 320which may be used, for example, to provide client-side processing forperforming desired tasks in response to operations selected by user 305.In one embodiment, toolbar application 320 may display a user interfacein connection with browser application 315 as further described herein.

User device 310 may further include other applications 325 as may bedesired in particular embodiments to provide desired features to userdevice 310. For example, other applications 325 may include securityapplications for implementing client-side security features,programmatic client applications for interfacing with appropriateapplication programming interfaces (APIs) over network 360, or othertypes of applications. Applications 325 may also include email, texting,voice and IM applications that allow user 305 to send and receiveemails, calls, and texts through network 360, as well as applicationsthat enable the user to communicate and transfer information through andwith the payment provider as discussed above. User device 310 includesone or more user identifiers 330 which may be implemented, for example,as operating system registry entries, cookies associated with browserapplication 315, identifiers associated with hardware of user device310, or other appropriate identifiers, such as used forpayment/user/device authentication. In one embodiment, user identifier330 may be used by a payment service provider to associate user 305 witha particular account maintained by the payment provider. Acommunications application 322, with associated interfaces, enables userdevice 310 to communicate within system 300.

Payment provider server 370 may be maintained, for example, by an onlinepayment service provider which may provide information to and receiveinformation from user 305, such as for making payments and other paymentrelated services. In this regard, payment provider server 370 includesone or more payment applications 375 which may be configured to interactwith user device 310 over network 360 to facilitate sending payments onbehalf of user 305 of user device 310.

Payment provider server 370 also maintains a plurality of user accounts380, each of which may include account information 385 associated withconsumers, merchants, and funding sources, such as credit cardcompanies. For example, account information 385 may include privatefinancial information of users of devices such as account numbers,passwords, device identifiers, user names, phone numbers, credit cardinformation, bank information, payment provider issued card information,or other information which may be used to facilitate transactions byuser 305.

A transaction processing application 390, which may be part of paymentapplication 375 or separate, may be configured to receive informationfrom a user device for processing and storage in a payment database 395.Transaction processing application 390 may include one or moreapplications to process information from user 305 for processing apayment or transfer using various selected funding instruments or cards,including a card issued by the payment provider. As such, transactionprocessing application 390 may store details of payment transfer fromindividual users, including funding source(s) used, credit optionsavailable, etc. to other individuals or entities. Payment application375 may be further configured to determine the existence of and tomanage accounts for user 305, as well as create new accounts ifnecessary, such as the set up and management payments by the user.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a computer system 400 suitable forimplementing, for example, devices used in the process described herein.

In accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure,computer system 400, such as a computer and/or a network server,includes a bus 402 or other communication mechanism for communicatinginformation, which interconnects subsystems and components, such as oneor more processing components 404 (e.g., processor, micro-controller,digital signal processor (DSP), etc.), one or more system memorycomponents 406 (e.g., RAM), one or more static storage components 408(e.g., ROM), a disk drive component 410 (e.g., magnetic or optical), anetwork interface component 412 (e.g., modem or Ethernet card), adisplay component 414 (e.g., CRT or LCD), an input component 418 (e.g.,keyboard, keypad, or virtual keyboard), a cursor control component 420(e.g., mouse, pointer, or trackball), and/or a location determinationcomponent 422 (e.g., a Global Positioning System (GPS), a cell towertriangulation device, and/or a variety of other location determinationdevices known in the art). In one implementation, disk drive component310 may comprise a database having one or more disk drive components.

In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, computersystem 400 performs specific operations by processor(s) 404 executingone or more sequences of instructions contained in memory component(s)406 or 408, such as described herein with respect to the user deviceand/or the payment provider device. Such instructions may be read intosystem memory component 406 from another computer readable medium, suchas static storage component(s) 406 or 408 or disk drive component 410.In other embodiments, hard-wired circuitry may be used in place of or incombination with software instructions to implement the presentdisclosure.

Logic may be encoded in a computer readable medium, which may refer toany medium that participates in providing instructions to processor(s)404 for execution. Such a medium may take many forms, including but notlimited to, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media.In one embodiment, the computer readable medium is non-transitory. Invarious implementations, non-volatile media includes optical or magneticdisks, such as disk drive component 410, volatile media includes dynamicmemory, such as system memory component(s) 406 or 408, and transmissionmedia includes coaxial cables, copper wire, and fiber optics, includingwires that comprise bus 402. In one example, transmission media may takethe form of acoustic or light waves, such as those generated duringradio wave and infrared data communications.

Some common forms of computer readable media includes, for example,floppy disk, flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any other magneticmedium, CD-ROM, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, anyother physical medium with patterns of holes, RAM, PROM, EPROM,FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, carrier wave, or anyother medium from which a computer is adapted to read. In oneembodiment, the computer readable media is non-transitory.

In various embodiments of the present disclosure, execution ofinstruction sequences to practice the present disclosure may beperformed by computer system 400. In various other embodiments of thepresent disclosure, a plurality of computer systems 400 coupled by acommunication link 424 to network 310 (e.g., such as a LAN, WLAN, PTSN,and/or various other wired or wireless networks, includingtelecommunications, mobile, and cellular phone networks) may performinstruction sequences to practice the present disclosure in coordinationwith one another.

Computer system 400 may transmit and receive messages, data, informationand instructions, including one or more programs (i.e., applicationcode) through communication link 424 and network interface component412. Network interface component 412 may include an antenna, eitherseparate or integrated, to enable transmission and reception viacommunication link 424. Received program code may be executed byprocessor(s) 404 as received and/or stored in disk drive component 410or some other non-volatile storage component for execution.

Where applicable, various embodiments provided by the present disclosuremay be implemented using hardware, software, or combinations of hardwareand software. Also, where applicable, the various hardware componentsand/or software components set forth herein may be combined intocomposite components comprising software, hardware, and/or both withoutdeparting from the scope of the present disclosure. Where applicable,the various hardware components and/or software components set forthherein may be separated into sub-components comprising software,hardware, or both without departing from the scope of the presentdisclosure. In addition, where applicable, it is contemplated thatsoftware components may be implemented as hardware components andvice-versa.

Software, in accordance with the present disclosure, such as programcode and/or data, may be stored on one or more computer readablemediums. It is also contemplated that software identified herein may beimplemented using one or more general purpose or specific purposecomputers and/or computer systems, networked and/or otherwise. Whereapplicable, the ordering of various steps described herein may bechanged, combined into composite steps, and/or separated into sub-stepsto provide features described herein.

The foregoing disclosure is not intended to limit the present disclosureto the precise forms or particular fields of use disclosed. As such, itis contemplated that various alternate embodiments and/or modificationsto the present disclosure, whether explicitly described or impliedherein, are possible in light of the disclosure. Having thus describedembodiments of the present disclosure, persons of ordinary skill in theart will recognize that changes may be made in form and detail withoutdeparting from the scope of the present disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system comprising: a non-transitory memory; andone or more hardware processors coupled to the non-transitory memory andconfigured to read instructions from the non-transitory memory to causethe system to perform operations comprising: receiving, over a networkcommunication, a purchase request including a card identifier associatedwith a physical card, the physical card previously purchased and linkedto a user account; retrieving, from a database, user account informationfor a user based in part on the card identifier received; and processingthe purchase request using the user account information.
 2. The systemof claim 1, wherein the linking to the user account includes associatingthe card identifier to the user account and wherein the card identifierincludes an image capture of the physical card.
 3. The system of claim1, wherein the linking to the user account includes associating the cardidentifier to the user account and wherein the card identifier includesan image capture of a machine-readable code.
 4. The system of claim 1,wherein the operations further comprise: in response to the retrieving,determining an account status included in the user account information;and transmitting, over the network communication, a request to updatethe user account information if the account status indicates an inactiveaccount.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the processing the purchaserequest includes presenting an authentication request on a Point of Sale(POS) device of the system.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein thelinking enables an association of one or more incentives available onthe user account with the physical card.
 7. A method comprising:receiving, by a computer system over a network communication, a purchaserequest including a card identifier associated with a physical card;retrieving, by the computer system from a database, user accountinformation for a user based in part on the card identifier received,wherein the card identifier is associated with the physical cardpreviously purchased and linked with a user account; and processing, bythe computer system, the purchase request using the user accountinformation.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the processing thepurchase request by the computer system includes transmitting, by thecomputer system user authentication information to a user device.
 9. Themethod of claim 8, wherein the user authentication information includesa request for a personal identification number.
 10. The method of claim8, wherein the user authentication information includes a password loginreceived through an application on the user device.
 11. The method ofclaim 8, further comprising: receiving, by the computer system over thenetwork communication, a second purchase request using the physicalcard; and transmitting, by the computer system over the networkcommunication, an identification number to process a purchase with thephysical card.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein a fee is associatedwith the purchase and a use of the physical card.
 13. The method ofclaim 8, wherein the user account information includes one or moreincentives associated with the user account.
 14. The method of claim 7,wherein the linking the physical card with the user account includestransmitting, by the computer system, a request for a userauthentication to a user device.
 15. The method of claim 7, wherein thecard identifier associated with the physical card is contained on a NearField Communication (NFC) chip.
 16. A non-transitory machine-readablemedium having thereon machine-readable instructions executable to causea machine to perform operations comprising: receiving at a point-of-salesystem, a purchase request from a physical card associated with a user;transmitting, over a network communication, payment request for theuser, the payment request including user account information for theuser based in part on a user authentication information received fromthe purchase request; and in response to the transmitting the paymentrequest, processing a transaction associated with the purchase request,wherein the processing includes receiving an authorization to processthe purchase request from a payment provider.
 17. The non-transitorymedium of claim 16, wherein the physical card was previously associatedwith the user and a user account corresponding to the user accountinformation by receiving an image capture of a card identifierassociated with the physical card.
 18. The non-transitory medium ofclaim 17, wherein the associating the physical card with the userincludes selling the physical card for a fee.
 19. The non-transitorymedium of claim 17, wherein the image capture includes amachine-readable code.
 20. The non-transitory medium of claim 17,wherein the user account information includes one or more incentivesassociated with the user account.